Birthday Recap

You turn 20 and you forget about your blog. Ah, adulthood.

I'm just kidding. You turn 20 in the middle of Exam week (followed by Project week) (followed by two very intense days (this past week-end) of finishing curtains for your neighbours, cleaning your room (severely damaged by Exam week and Project week), making sure you ordered all your gifts on amazon and packing because Monday night you're leaving to Mexico (pronounce Méhhhico).

Yes, I'm SÜPER LUCKY. I'm also SÜPER NOT realizing that I'll be at the beach in 16 hours because all I can think of is I FINISHED (my) COLLECTION PROJECT! (Many stages of which I took pictures of, and I'll be posting them as soon as I get back from Méhhhico).

These past two weeks felt like a never-ending journey. Here's a recap of my birthday:

 You can't spell Birthday without Spa day!  I am the luckiest person in the world to share my birthday with my best friend, and every year we head to AuPremier Spa to remind ourselves that the 8th of December is our favourite day of the year!

 AuPremier is the most relaxing place, a little gem located in the Monkland Village

 Fries at java U for lunch- I know, you go to java U for j Ice, not fries, but my friend hooked me up on these last spring and that's the only reason I go to java U now. They come with three dipping sauces and remind me of Frites Alors...

 my sister, who turns 15 exactly two weeks after my birthday

 moules & frites at l'Académie, my choice of restaurant to celebrate the day

*these mussels were fantastic, cooked in white wine

 potage du jour

 a succulent salad, part of the table d'hôte

 linguine with seafood

 my duck and mushroom risotto

 lamb shank

 when you wear a crown, you get...

 free chocolate-mousse-birthday cake!

 which turned out to be the best mousse of my life (my 6 guests agreed), really rich, not too sweet... piece of advice-head to l'Académie wearing a crown

and some rocky road cheesecake

L'Académie is a great french/italian bring-your-own wine restaurant, for pasta and mussels&fries they offer great quality food for a good value.

Now, I'm off to decorate our Christmas tree with my family... before jetting off to the beach.

Merry Christmas everyone! Happy Holidays! See you in a week :)

Me 2.0

As I'm writing this, in exactly 4 hours, 33 minutes, 12 seconds and 27 mili-seconds... I'm turning 20.

WOOOOOOOOOUHOUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No, I'm not hysterical, in panic, mortified, scared, amused a little by what I'm writing. I'm so excited. Oh GOD. I think that a birthday is the most amazing day in the year because...

-everyone celebrates birthdays, no matter what religion you are or where you come from. It's not Christmas or Hanukah, or ... (insert really weird holiday here)

-When else can you make endless wish-lists, day dream for hours, recall what you got for your birthday when you were 5... or 8... or ... what time is it now?

-Make a loooooong resolution list and actually stick to it. A new year, a new start, a new, more skinny/ radiant/ relaxed/ joyful you... Well, there's always New Year's .... and I have precisely 24 days to re-apply my resolution.


-When else do you get Happy Birthday greeting from people you forgot you had on Facebook?

-When else does your Mom buy you your favourite cake, just because.

-When else can you shamelessly come into class and Ittttttttsssss MY Birthhhhhhhhhhhdayyyyyyyyy! so easy to kill a working vibe

-No matter what happens, those 24 hours belong to you. And so quickly, they disappear, and you're 20. Mature. Responsible. Adult.

When I was 5 years old, I firmly believed that the minute you turn 20, you get married and (a few seconds later) you have kids. And nothing else. Nothing in my 5-year old mind went beyond 20. And here I almost am.

I'm really looking forward to my twenties. I have a word for each year. At 16, it was bubbly, at 17, it was psychedelic, at 19 it was vampy. I still haven't came up with my 20-word but I'll let you know when I will. Right now, I'll go sew my way into my twenties... wishing for much much much more than a husband and kids.

Local design talent: Stunn Men by Takaaki Kubo

T.K. is a star. Pick up a brochure about my school, and you'll find him on it. Aside from modelling for our fashion design program, he's a regular at Montreal Fashion Week. But most importantly, he designs avant-garde mens-wear pieces... Here's a taste of T.K.'s work:

At School... Lu's puffer coat

I was already in love with Lu's brogues... But when I saw her winter coat, I was not expecting this. Put your sunglasses on gals, Lu's coming through!

My first... sewing project

À l'âge de douze ans, lorsque je prenais des cours d'art (que je prends d'ailleurs encore aujourd'hui), ma professeure m'a introduit à des revues de collections de mode. À l'âge de douze ans, je feuilletais des pages de Galliano, fascinée. Ma professeure m'avait ouvert la porte à un monde magique et envoûtant. Et c'est elle qui, un an plus tard, m'a offert des cours de design de mode.

En prenant une vielle paire de jeans, j'ai confectionné une jupe et je l'ai décoré d'après une jupe Galliano de 1998 figurée dans le Fashion: Taschen's 25th anniversary. C'était la première fois que je cousais. C'était mon premier projet, ma première confection.

Encore aujourd'hui, je regarde cet habit pailleté et je me rappelle que c'est là que tout a commencé.

Mojito fuchsia top

Back when I was twelve years old, my art class teacher introduced me to fashion collections magazines. Back when I was twelve years old, I was flipping through pages of Galliano, mesmerized. My teacher had opened a whole new world to me. An exciting and spellbinding world. It was my teacher who, a year later, offered me classes of fashion design.

With an old pair of jeans, I made a denim skirt, inspired by Galliano's 1998 denim skirt featured in Fashion: Taschen's 25th anniversary. It was the first time I used a sewing machine. It was my first sewing project, my first self-made garment.

To this day, when I look at my heavily-sequined skirt, I remember that that's where it all began.

At School... Lu's brogues

When I saw their fluorescent colour, I was mesmerized. You want to know more? They're from Opening Ceremony.

Chez Doval

When I invited my friends to an authentic Portuguese restaurant a few nights ago, I didn't know what to expect. I was absolutely clueless about Portuguese cuisine, and being the avid food critic that I am, I Googled it, then Wikied it, then learned it by heart (my credibility in front of my friends was at risk), and learned that when in a portuguese restaurant, one shall order cod.

Out of métro Mont-Royal, I make my way thought the deserted and gloomy street Marie-Anne Est to Chez Doval. Monsieur was already inside. I enter but there's no Monsieur in sight. The place is tiny (as most Plateau hidden gastronomical treasures). Then, I learn that in the back, there's a second room, about the size of the first. The waiters have Portuguese written on their foreheads. The place is crowded. So far, I'm amused. I give my " Portugal is the most fish/ seafood eating country per capita in Europe" speech and order... shrimp. While waiting for our food, I watch three waiters freeze on the spot, mouth open, right in front of me. They stand there, lifelessly, and watch futebol on the big screen behind my back. A few feet away, a bouncy guitarist plays everything from La Bohème to This time for Africa with customers singing along and clapping.

When my grilled shrimp brochette arrives, I squeeze my lemon on top, and dive in. The house red wine is mouthwatering- not too bitter, just light enough. My friends are really enjoying their order, I try a little bit of everything and feel glorious of bringing them there. The lamb is juicy and grilled just right, the chicken well-seared and the mussels satisfy my friend's appetite. We ask for dessert, and are persuaded to  portuguese custard pastries. We go from trying one to ordering 6 more! I take a café allongé, which turns out to be one of the best coffees I had of late, and lie eyes wide open at 3 in the morning because coffee has this effect on me, and I knew what I was getting myself into all along. No regrets. I had the most fantastic night.

olives served pre-meal

fluffy big bread rolls

grilled chicken

grilled shrimp brochette

lamb chops

rice heavily drenched in oil

portuguese mussels

portuguese custard pastries

café allongé

Il Focolaio

Once again, I had a taste of Italy in Montreal's very coveted pizzaresto Il Focolaio. This time, I brought friends and we went for lunch. We entered the eatery at 11:30, and it was almost empty, and I was very surprised because the last time I had been there, it was the absolutely opposite of empty. And ten... fifteen minutes later, Il Focolaio was so crowded and loud you couldn't hear yourself thinking.

I chose the Romana, which turned out to taste even better than I expected. The mozzarella was chewy, the crust not too thick, not too thin, the herbs complementing the ingredients so well... I was transported to my most recent trip to Italy, and on the highest notes of nostalgia, I had a taste of my friend's meals. Savvy's submarine had very good sausage, but the rest was rather plain. Cristina's Peperonata was simple  but good and Jessica's pizza was too carnivorous for an ex-vegetarian like me. (Men, you will love it!) Next time, I'll try... just the other 70 things on the menu. Have a great week!

Phillips Square: sauce, capicollo, pepperoni, spicy italian sausage, ham, mushrooms, mozzarella, green peppers

La Salsicciata: Italian sausage cooked in the wooden oven with salad, spicy peppers, olives and bread topped with bruschetta

Peperonata: sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella

Romana: fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh basil, oregano, parmesan, garlic and olive oil

Sunny Mornings

Every Wednesday morning, the one day when I get to sleep in... and start school really late, I wake up to beaming sunlight. And any possible photographer in my house is gone for the day. Luckily this morning, my knight in shining armour was there to capture nature's Wednesday's curse once and for all.

Can you believe we're in November?

Mojito top, tailored jacket of my own making, Second yoga jeans, H&M Mary Janes and scarf